The Faculty of Law at the University of Pretoria is proud to announce that Dr Joel Modiri in its Department of Jurisprudence has been invited by the Rule of Law, Equality and Non-discrimination Branch of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights to address the 17th Session of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the Effective Implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA) in Geneva, Switzerland from 16 to 20 December 2019.

The Intergovernmental Working Group on the Effective Implementation of the DDPA is one of the three mechanisms established to follow up the Declaration and Programme of Action of the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, held in Durban, South Africa, in 2001.  In the main, the DDPA urges states to establish and implement national policies and action plans to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, including their gender-based manifestations.

The invitation is based on Modiri’s work as a scholar and theoretician of race and the law. He will be presenting a study on “global challenges for anti-racism”, combined with a discussion on the continuing problems of racism and racial inequality in South Africa.  This stands as further testament to the value of theoretical legal research and jurisprudence for policy change and social justice in the South African and international human rights legal systems. And it once again places the UP Faculty of Law at the forefront of these developments.

Dean Elsabe Schoeman extended hearty congratulations to Modiri on behalf of the Faculty of Law and UP, and said that this honour bestowed upon him ‘indeed underscores the important role that scholars must play in providing a sound theoretical foundation for policies and other measures, especially on the international level where other considerations are often overpowering.’

Modiri has a long list of national and international achievements behind his name.  Inter alia, during May 2019, he was selected as an Africa Oxford (AfOx) Visiting Fellow and was one of the Mail & Guardian's Top 200 Young South Africans in 2018.